When schools look like resorts questions about funding must be asked

The plans look like something from a fantasy holiday getaway brochure. Sleek architect-designed buildings housing state-of-the-art gyms and swimming pools. Multi-tiered recreation spaces that would sit nicely on a Balinese hillside. An orchestra pit and a chapel nested into bushland. A Scottish baronial library.

But these are no escapist fantasies. All these developments are coming soon to seven private schools in Sydney, which have a stunning $365 million worth of combined development applications in the pipeline.

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These infrastructure improvements will be dangled like bejewelled carrots in front of eager parents wanting the very best facilities for their cherished offspring. But, there's a catch.

The rapid expansion plans among private schools revealed by Pallavi Singhal today have been labelled as an "arms race for students" and like most arms races, there will be a heavy price to pay.

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Parents are already forking out more than $37,000 to send their children to some of Sydney's top private schools, with fees rising by as much as 5 per cent this year, and industry experts say the upward trend is unlikely to stop.

So parents are already paying dearly for these privileges. And that is before we get to the vexed issue of government support. It is important to note that private schools say they fund these infrastructure expansions through fees, fund-raising and donations, and government funding goes directly to students' education.

An artist's impression of the proposed development at Loreto Kirribilli.

Loreto Kirribilli last year received federal government funding equivalent to 196 per cent of its appropriate level, and St Aloysius' was funded at 183 per cent of its level.

The combined price tag for these seven schools' planned developments is $365 million. Compare this to the $390 million allocated by the NSW government last year to address an enormous maintenance backlog across the state's 2100 public schools.

As a rule, public schools in NSW are funded by state government, while the majority of federal funds goes towards private schools. Much ink has been spilt looking at who is entitled to what, and Gonski 2.0 is the latest federal government attempt to come up with a funding formula that is fair for all. The principal - which is a good one - is that funding should go towards students based on both their educational need and their socio-economic background.

But the next time taxpayers are being asked to accept their hard-earned dollars are being well used by Sydney's elite schools and their palatial facilities, perhaps a thought should be spared for those less-fortunate students in western Sydney or outback NSW whose future is housed in temporary classrooms that are left to bake in the heat.

There is no arms race to attract parents to public schools. Just the dire need for more resources to transform lives for some of the most disadvantaged and needy students in the state. For this cohort, the prospect of luxury gyms and swimming pools remains a distant dream.